The present invention relates to a fuel tank supporting structure in which a fuel tank is supported on a subframe which is mounted on a vehicle body frame.
Such a fuel tank supporting structure is known, being described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.8-48163. In the known fuel tank supporting structure, to support the fuel tank a pair of left and right tank-supporting bands are disposed in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. Front ends of the tank-supporting bands are passed through band bores defined in the fuel tank and fixed to a front cross member of the subframe, and rear ends of the tank-supporting bands fitted in a band groove, which is defined in an upper surface of the fuel tank so as to become connected to the band bore, are fixed to a rear cross member of the subframe.
The known fuel tank supporting structure suffers from a problem that the band bore and the band groove are defined near the central portion of the fuel tank where a pump unit and a meter unit are disposed and, for this reason, the pump unit and the meter unit interfere with the tank supporting band to impede the freedom of the layout. Also, the volume of the fuel tank is reduced by the presence of the band bore and the band groove.
The present invention has been accomplished with the above circumstance in view, and it is an object of the present invention to reliably fix the fuel tank without interfering with the layout of auxiliaries such as the pump unit, the meter unit, and the like, mounted on the fuel tank, and to ensure a sufficient volume of the fuel tank.